The present invention relates to a stereoscopic imaging optical system, a stereoscopic imaging apparatus, and an endoscope, each capable of stereoscopic viewing.
For stereoscopic viewing of two images having different parallaxes, such techniques as disclosed in JP(A) 2003-5096 and International Publication WO 2011/049195 have so far been applied to an optical system for forming them within the same plane.
According to JP(A) 2003-5096, an optical system having two optical axes is provided on the object side while an optical system having one optical axis is provided on the image side. According to International Publication WO 2011/049195, an optical system having two optical axes is provided from an object to an image, and the left and right optical axes are passed by prisms through imaging optical systems located above and below such that a separation between image centers is made shorter by the prism on the imaging plane side to locate imaging planes above and below.